The Sullivan Solar Sentinel

We're expanding for the 6th time

Our headquarters is big. Numerous departments operate from here with overflowing staff along with a giant warehouse bustling with installation crews and materials packed to the ceiling.

Within 10 feet of the front door you begin to hear the symphony of phones ringing, mouse clicks, paper filing, overworked printers, faxes spilling over, microwave buzzer going off, chairs rolling against the exotic tile floor (previous tenant must have sold flooring), constant chatter of keyboard strikes and air conditioning whine. Funny thing about air conditioning; you don't notice how loud it is until you hear it shut off late at night. There are just too many people for the space and it's ready to burst like a ripe watermelon.

Just in time, help is on the way; we are expanding! Finally I will be able to scoot my chair back more than 2 feet before colliding with my neighbor! There will be a collective sigh of relief when the day comes. We will actually be able to walk THROUGH the warehouse to reach the other side, instead of exiting and entering again from the far door. And possibly best of all; room in the fridge. It feels great to be part of a organization growing this fast!

Truth is we have done this before. It has become so frequent that it is now planned for well ahead of time. Sullivan Solar Power has expanded 6 times since being established in 2004 - each move due to expansion. The strategy seems to have changed however; instead of moving the entire office to a larger space, now individual departments are splitting off into their own buildings. Such is the case now; we have acquired the building next door and about half of us are moving over.

Truth is this isn't the first time we have acquired additional buildings either. We opened a location in Irvine a while back that has been so successful that it too is splitting at the seams. Just this morning I was at our new Riverside building - oddly the warehouse is carpeted; forklift will make quick work of that. Plans for more locations around Southern California are in the works as well.

Experience tells me to enjoy the space behind my chair while it lasts. It won't be long before the new buildings become the old buildings and new employees are shoehorned wherever workspace can be found and I'm writing a new blog post about it.

Below is a video tour of the building before the move-in. Dwayne, one of our top electricians is in the middle of wiring the building while this was being filmed. The warehouse was filmed before racks were run across the walls.